Multiple purpose orthodontic pliers

ABSTRACT

An orthodontic plier is disclosed having three distinct surface curvatures on each mating surface. The pliers are particularly helpful for adjusting a crozat orthodontic appliance. During such an adjustment a particular mating pair of opposing plier surfaces is utilized to apply pressure to a particular curved section of the crozat appliance. Each of the curved surfaces of the pliers are arranged to mate perfectly with a particular curved surface of the appliance in order to perform the desired adjustment manipulation.

United States Patent [1 1 Dobyns MULTIPLE PURPOSE ORTHODONTIC PLIERS [76] Inventor: Richard Wendell Dobyns, 1351 Graymill Dr., Scotch Plains, NJ.

[22] Filed: May 30, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 257,945

[52] US. Cl. 32/66 [51] Int. Cl. A6lc 7/00 [58] Field of Search 32/66, 40 R; 140/121 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,954,606 10/1960 Peak 32/66 OTHER PUBLICATIONS. Dental Catalog, Arista Surgical Co., p. 12, FIG. No.

[111 3,774,306 [4 1 Nov. 27, 1973 134, January, 1968.

Primary ExaminerLouis G. Mancene Assistant ExaminerJ. Q. Lever Attorney-David H. Tannenbaum [5 7 ABSTRACT An orthodontic plier is disclosed having three distinct surface curvatures on each mating surface. The pliers are particularly helpful for adjusting a crozat orthodontic appliance. During such an adjustment a particular mating pair of opposing plier surfaces is utilized to apply pressure to a particular curved section of the -cr.ozat appliance. Each of the curved surfaces of the pliers are arranged to mate perfectly with a particular curved surface of the appliance in order to perform the desired adjustment manipulation.

6 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures I Patented Nov. 27, 1973 3,774,306

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I-

F/G.4 FIG;

Patented Nov. 27, 1973 3,774,306

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 7

- 1 MULTIPLE PURPOSE ORTHODONTIC PLIERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a tool for use in orthodontic work and more particularly to a plier for use in manipulating certain orthodontic devices.

There are currently several methods in use by the dental profession in the performance of orthodontic work. One such method is called the crozat method or maxillo-facial orthopedics where the appliance applied to the teeth for the purpose of moving the teeth isone which is removable. The crozat method is based on the principle that teeth may be moved, for the purpose of straightening or for otherpurposes, by applying a constant pressure on the teeth to beshifted. The pressure is applied by fitting the ends of the appliance, or cribs as they are commonly called, over the particular pair of teeth tobe moved.

Before applying the appliance the distance between the two teeth is carefully measured and the space between the two portions of the appliance which fit over these teeth is made slightly longer than the actual distance between the teeth. Thus, when the appliance is worn by'the patient, the teeth are under pressure and tend to move in a direction to relieve the pressure from the appliance. Since the appliance distance between tooth portions is only slightly larger, usually only 1 millimeter larger, than the actual tooth separation, several adjustments must be made to continually expand the appliance as the teeth move in the mouth. These adjustments are made at from 2 to 3 week intervals.

A typical patient requires an 8 millimeter total movement which is made over a course of 24 weeks. During that period, the appliance must be adjusted approximately 8 times. During the course of the adjustment three distinct mechanical manipulations must be made.

The first crib is therotating of the two cribs of the appliance. in order to move the teeth in the desired plane. This operation is performed by gripping the rounded portion of the crib, where the crib is shaped to the tooth, in order to secure the orib portion. Pressure is then applied in an outwardly twisting manner. During this phase of the adjustment it is customary to use special pliers adapted to applypressure to the curved surface of the tooth portion of the crozat appliance.

The second manipulation is the widening; of the appliance by straightening a central curved section. This operation is performed by crimping the curved arch section between two flat surfaces of a special pair of pliers.

The third manipulation is the adjustment of the crescents of the appliance so that when the appliance is replaced in the mouth it will be held securely by the teeth. The position of the crescent, of course, is dependent on the relative position of the crib portion of the appliance. Customarily, this operation has been performed by a pliers having a circular end portion for gripping the crescent.

Numerous problems exist in the performance of the adjustment steps. One such problem is the fact that three different pliers must be used for each crozat adjustment. Thus, the orthodontist must pick up, adjust in his hand and use, three difierenttools for each adjustment. At best, this has proven an awkward procedure and since each tool is different in size and weight, the orthodontist must continually adjust and make allowances therefor.

A further problem exists in that after each use, the pliers all must be sterilized and a new set of three set out for the next patient. Since it is customary to see patients in at least two or more different treatment rooms, each room must be equipped with all three tools.

Accordingly, a need exists in the art for an arrangement for adjusting orthodontic appliances of the crozat type without resorting to three. distinct pliers.

A further problem exists when attempting to design a plier surface for gripping the toothengaging portion or crib of the crozat appliance in that care must be exercisedso that the force applied by the plier surface on the curved surface of the crib doesnot tend to flatten the curve and open the crib wider thus distorting the crib and making it fit improperly. When this happens, the appliance becomes uncomfortable to the patient and a source of irritation to the gums and to adjoining teeth. It has been found that distortions in excess of 2 millimeters usually require extensive refitting or revamping of the appliance.

Accordingly, a further need exists in the art for a plier adapted for the gripping of curved surfaces in a manner so as not to distort the curvature of the gripped item.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I have observed that each of the three steps of the crozat adjustment is such that it can be performed at a different area of the surface of the plier. For example, the third or crescent adjustment step can only be performed at the end of the plier crimping faces. I have determined that the tooth crib rotation or first step can be performed halfway between the end of the plier and the plier hinge and I have determined that the expanding or second step can be performed as far back on the plier surfaces as necessary.

Taking all these determinations into account, I have devised a single pair of pliers where the mating surfaces or faces of the plier crimping portion have different curvatures at different places therealong. Thus, one face of the plier is constructed with a small circular depression therein and the mating portion of the opposite plier end is constructed with a round face to fit into the depression. Accordingly, the crescent of the crozat appliance fits into the plier depression at the end of the plier and when the plier is closed, the concave-convex portion of the mating surface engages the crescent of the appliance and holds it secure.

The plier face having the small circular depression at the end is constructed so that at a point about 3 millimeters further back from the end the curvature of the depression changes to form a depression having a radius of curvature matching the radius of curvature of the tooth engaging portion of the crozat appliance. The opposite face of the plier which mates therewith is constructed with a larger outwardly curving surface and is adapted to hold the appliance securely at the tooth engaging crib thereof without distorting the shape of the crib.

Even further back along the plier the surface of both faces flattens so that the crozat body wire can fit therebetween and can be expanded by crimping the body wire between the plier faces and applying pressure thereto.

Accordingly, one feature of my new pliers is that three distinctly different manipulations, each to a dif- FIGS. 3 through show 'cross-sections V ent curved surfaces of the plier;

, is requiredsince the U ment should be about 1 millimeter."

adapted for gripping a rounded metallic structure'i'n a manner suitable for that structure and'suitable for the of manipulation desired to be performed ,Qn'that structure. i

7 DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS I These andotherobjects, features: and advantages of my inventionwill be more fully understood and appar'-.

ent from the following description of the drawing, in

which: I I a I FIG; 1 is a side view of the plier; 7 FIG. 2 is aperspective view showing faces of each face of the plier;

FIG. 6 shows a typical crozat appliance; and

j' inrn oouc 'non a i Prior'to beginningadetailed,discussion of theopera--. tion of my new pliers it islp'erhaps bettertoreviewthe] basic manipulatior s which must beperforrned'in the adjustment of the crozat' appliance. with reference to plied, usually to the. central member between thecrib. Duringtthis procedure it is critical that the; curved shape of back. of. crib 66 isnot disturbed, since this shape is designed tofit the patients toothexactly. As

mentioned earlier, any bending ordistortionto the uprights ofthe tooth crib or crib itself of the crozat applie the insidesnr- :of the differ i up I FIGS. 7 through Sishovvfthe grippingiofthedifferentai parts of the crozat appli'anc'e, by the differentsurfaces .ofth'e' plier;x;;' 1

ance will result in problems for the patient which will i have to be corrected by newimpressions of the pa" tients mouth and then readapting" the appliances on new models. This'requires a separate visit for the patient andmore work and expense for'the dentist.

Oncegthe crib isrotatedtheproperamountthe two sure to that archby,iaiflatfsurface; or by afsurface hav-i ing a radiusiof curvaturegreatly in excess of the radius.

of curvature of thebridge, the bridge will straighten; In,

"doing so, the right andleft tooth cribs s's jand 69"will- T The third step in adjusting the appliance is the move- DETAILED: DESCRIPTIQN j Withreference'nowwto; FIG.l,it willvbefseenjthata 3 I iportion 'o f the outersurfaceof plies 10; face .12 is I I knurled or flor'entined The knurling is' added' to the; I plier' to aidin positioning theplier with respectto the f' variousxeurvatures ofthe plier faces 'lhe plier portion infront of the floren'tine is for tightening. The floren-' tin'ed section. is. for rotating and the portionbehind the if florentine is for expanding Taken'incross-section, the curvatures of the'respective facesare shown in FIGS.

3 throughS. M 7

FIG; 3 is the crosssection taken through line 3-3 of, FIG. land shows the relatively flat surfaces and 31 i which are next to the intersection, between the upper and lower jaws. These surfaces are used to expand the body wireinsteptwO. 1 I W 3 FIG. 4 is the cross-section to gripthe .curvedzcrib.

g It shouldbe notedfthatithe plierj'sho n' in FIG; I-is :adaptedfor use inthe;right,handggThusftheinwardly; "J ,1 g u "curving surfaces areonthe topfaces andftheoutwardly P I t curvingimatehingfaces are: on the lowenfaeesQFor use I 1 4 q FIG-6, the first step that must'be performed: isthe rota;

. tionof each crib 68 or 69 about point 64 to place the j [gripped teeth in the proper plane. To perform'this manipulation,thecentersection of theplier (florentine section) is placed around back portion 66 of crib 68m 3 Y 69 to hold the crib stable. Twisting force'is then ap- 41 is less than theradius just discussed, with the radius generating curvedsurfacie's 5 0 51- beingthe small est of the three radii; Surfaces 30'and40 are inwardly f 1 curving with respectvto thelongitudinalicenter line of ,jaw l2 while. surfaces 31 and 4:1: are outwardly curving a with respect toithe longitudinal cientcrline of jaw/11 H :5 In; FIG; 7,; plier 1011s showni with'rnatingisurfaces and 3liapplyinglpressure to areh;portionfilioftheerot a j zat.appliance-{611; Asgthe' arch6liflattens, theiltbothi {cribs move further apart and the appliance is thuszwid f ened infthe manner diseussed above;

similarly'eurving surfacefldo ootlrcrib'fi whilef com 66 and 65, respectively, gripping pressure may be excited by the plier withoutdeforming the tooth crib cur- 1 vature. By gripping crozat appliance 60-withtakenthroughline 4-'--4 of FIG- 1 and showsthelarge radius curvature of the mid p y I dle section, surfaces 40, and 41. These surfaces are used 7 i' I andifthe plier were' i to bemadeiiperfectlybalanced; theywcould, be heldiandhuseti by -either"handf inters.j-

, Turning nowgto 'FIG..;2, .topljawf 1210f plier' :10 is g shown with top inner surfaces 30, and 50,: while i I bottom jawfll is shown with bottom.innersurfaces3-1 1.- a

41, and 51. Surfaces 30 and 31 40 andf4l, and and i 51 are constructed to rnate with each other and thusn' each pair of surfaces is designed having complementary curving portionsf. The radius of the curve forsurfaces 30" and ,31 is large, thereby generating aflat or almost flat surface. The radius of the curvefor surfaces 40. and j} 'In FIG! 8,,plier;l0 i's ysh'own engaging surface 62 of i tooth crib? 681 ofmczat appliance tifltConcavely mm v g I a 7 I ingfsurface'40=of upper jawlllisfiincontact the" be displaced from oneanother. Only aslight pressure i P fF ha jfls 'veirlyeurvingsurfaeelfloflowerjaw flisincontaetr with thesirnilarly curvin'g surface'ffi of todthcrib.68." 7

Since the curves of'plier surfaces 40 and" 411m de- I I signed to be the same as the curves of crozat, surfaces 1 the fingers of I the hand not holding the plier, crib .68 may be easily, 7

twisted around pivot 64 to the desired position. Since the knurled section 13 on the outer surface. of upper jaw 12 corresponds to the center curved section 40 of the inner surface, the orthodontist need only position the plier so that the arm 62 of the tooth portion 68 is within the knurled zone. Visual inspection of the actual surface to be gripped is then not necessary.

In FIG. 9, plier is shown engaging crescent wire 63 of crozat appliance 60. Inner surface 50 of upper jaw 12 is on one side of crescent wire 63 while inner surface 51 of lower jaw 11 grips the other side of crescent wire 63. Light pressure bends the crescent wire inward toward the tooth to engage the tooth undercut and thus fit firmly against the tooth. Also it should be noted that the end of the pliers may be used to grip the crib at any point for crimping purposes should it be desired to tighten the crib for a better fit with respect to the pa tients tooth. v

FIGS. 7, Sand 9, as discussed above, show my new pliers together with the three steps for adjusting a crozat appliance therewith using different surfaces of the pliers for each step. Using my new pliers the subtle, but critical, movements which must be made to the crozat appliance are now able to be achieved in approximately half the time as before with improved accuracy and less damage to the appliance.

While the teachings of my invention were illustrated using a crozat appliance, numerous other appliance manipulations may well be suited for a tool having varying curved jaw surfaces designed in the manner shown without departing from the spirit and scope of my teachings.

I claim:

1. A pair of orthodontic pliers having intersecting opposing jaws, each such jaw defining an inner jaw surface adapted for mating contact with the other of said inner jaw surfaces,

one of said inner jaw surfaces having a first portion thereof relatively flat',

a second portion thereof inwardly curving, said inwardly curved portion having a first radius of curvature; and

a third portion thereof inwardly curving, said third portion inwardly curving portion having a second radius of curvature different from said first radius of curvature, and

said other one of said inner jaw surfaces having a first portion thereof relativelyflat;

a second portion thereof outwardly curving, said outwardly curved portion having a radius of curvature substantially equal to said first radius of curvature whereby said first portions of said inner jaw surfaces and said second portions of said inner jaw surfaces, respectively, are in mating relationship with each other; and

a third portion thereof outwardly curving, said third portion outwardly curved portion having a radius of curvature substantially equal to said second radius of curvature whereby said third portions of said inner jaw surfaces are in mating relationship with each other.

2. The invention set forth in claim 1 wherein said first portions of said inner jaw surfaces are next adjacent to said intersection between said jaws.

3. The invention set forth in claim 2 wherein said second portions of said inner jaw surfaces are contiguous to said first portions.

4. The invention set forth in claim 3 further comprising means for positioning said second portions of said jaws relative to an object to be gripped between said jaws.

5. An orthodontic plier adapted for making three distinct adjustments on a crozat dental appliance, said plier having first and second mating jaws having an intersection therebetween,

said plier comprising,

a tip section of each jaw having complementary curving portions adapted for receiving the tooth lock portion or crescent wire of said crozat appliance therebetween, said curved portion of said first mating jaw being an inwardly curving portion of radius r1 and said curved portion of said second mating jaw being an outwardly curving portion of radius r1,

a middle section of each jaw having complementary curving portions adapted for receiving a curved arm of a crib of said crozat appliance therebetween, said middle section curved portion of said first mating jaw being an inwardly curving portion of radius r2 and said middle section curved portion of said second mating jaw being an outwardly curving portion of radius r2, and

an inner section of each jaw having complementary portions adapted for receiving the arch portion or body wire of said crozat appliance therebetween, said inner sections being relatively flat.

6. The invention set forth in claim 5 where radius r1 is the radius of curvature of said portion or crescent wire of said crozat appliance and where radius r2 is the radius of curvature of the arm of said crib to be gripped, of said crozat appliance.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,774,306 Dated November 27, 1973 Inventor(s) Richard Wendell Dobyns It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 38, change "crib" first occurrence to "manipulation";

line 42, change "orib" "co "crib".

(SEAL) Attest:

C MARSHALL DANN EDWARD PLFLETCHERJR.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer 

1. A pair of orthOdontic pliers having intersecting opposing jaws, each such jaw defining an inner jaw surface adapted for mating contact with the other of said inner jaw surfaces, one of said inner jaw surfaces having a first portion thereof relatively flat; a second portion thereof inwardly curving, said inwardly curved portion having a first radius of curvature; and a third portion thereof inwardly curving, said third portion inwardly curving portion having a second radius of curvature different from said first radius of curvature, and said other one of said inner jaw surfaces having a first portion thereof relatively flat; a second portion thereof outwardly curving, said outwardly curved portion having a radius of curvature substantially equal to said first radius of curvature whereby said first portions of said inner jaw surfaces and said second portions of said inner jaw surfaces, respectively, are in mating relationship with each other; and a third portion thereof outwardly curving, said third portion outwardly curved portion having a radius of curvature substantially equal to said second radius of curvature whereby said third portions of said inner jaw surfaces are in mating relationship with each other.
 2. The invention set forth in claim 1 wherein said first portions of said inner jaw surfaces are next adjacent to said intersection between said jaws.
 3. The invention set forth in claim 2 wherein said second portions of said inner jaw surfaces are contiguous to said first portions.
 4. The invention set forth in claim 3 further comprising means for positioning said second portions of said jaws relative to an object to be gripped between said jaws.
 5. An orthodontic plier adapted for making three distinct adjustments on a crozat dental appliance, said plier having first and second mating jaws having an intersection therebetween, said plier comprising, a tip section of each jaw having complementary curving portions adapted for receiving the tooth lock portion or crescent wire of said crozat appliance therebetween, said curved portion of said first mating jaw being an inwardly curving portion of radius r1 and said curved portion of said second mating jaw being an outwardly curving portion of radius r1, a middle section of each jaw having complementary curving portions adapted for receiving a curved arm of a crib of said crozat appliance therebetween, said middle section curved portion of said first mating jaw being an inwardly curving portion of radius r2 and said middle section curved portion of said second mating jaw being an outwardly curving portion of radius r2, and an inner section of each jaw having complementary portions adapted for receiving the arch portion or body wire of said crozat appliance therebetween, said inner sections being relatively flat.
 6. The invention set forth in claim 5 where radius r1 is the radius of curvature of said portion or crescent wire of said crozat appliance and where radius r2 is the radius of curvature of the arm of said crib to be gripped, of said crozat appliance. 